NATURE NOTES

Taupo Times, Volume III, Issue 117, 23 April 1954, Page 7

NATURE NOTES

TOMTIT AND ROBIN A King Country correspondent has asked for the name of a small bird seen in the bush, which he describes as being tame enough to be closely approached and as having a jet black head and back, with whitish under surfaces, and a white patch on the wings. The details given readily identify the bird as the North Island species of tomtit, known as the White-breasted Tit, native names being miro-miro, and toi-toi. This bird is found only in the North Island and some of its offshore islands. A Friendly Bird It is the male tomtit that is described above, for the female is brown instead of jet black, and the white wing patches and under parts are clouded with a brownish tinge. The tomtit always gives an impression of friendliness. When in a locality where they are found it is common experienee suddenly to discover one perched on a twig, or sideways on a tree trunk, within five or six feet, head cocked on one side, beady little eye fixed upon you. Sometimes the approach of the tomtit will be heralded by the call note, a sharp "see," uttered two, three or more times in succession. If you remain still it will often proceed to search for insects or grubs if you move on it may keep near you for some yards. It will frequent country gardens, and I have seen one fly down to seize grubs just disturbed by the spade, beating its prey several times upon the top of a nearby board fence before swallowing it. By many bushmen and country dwellers the tomtit is known as the bush robin. There are, however, four species of robin in New Zealand and outlying islands, and the name robin is best reserved for these birds. A detail to check the identity of both tomtit and robin is that both have a small white spot above the base of the bill. Pitoitoi, the Robin The North Island robin is nearly twice the size of the tomtit, and is duller in colouring, being a dark slaty grey above, a paler grey on the sides of the body and whitish undernea-th, and seen in deep shadow gives a first impression of being almost black. Though once plentiful everywhere in the North Island, it is now found in a few localities only. Sopie time ago one was watched as it energetically attacked a large weta that had been dislodged from a log that was being sawn up. An- ■ other was watched as it tussled with a tomtit and robbed the latter of a large brown spider it had captured. The robin, like the tomtit, feeds mainly upon insects, grubs and worms, and often searches the leaf-covered bush floor. It has, too, the same friendliness as the tomtiti. On one occasion only have I heard the song of the robin, and then only for two periods of about a minute each. It was a bright and musical trilling, comparable in loudness to the singing of the imported song thrush and resembling in delivery the trilling of a canary, a resemblance that is not possessed as far as I know by the song of any other native bird. Mr Guthrie Smith, in one of his books, has described listening many years ago to a robin's song, continued for twenty minutes, and states that on merit of that one beautiful performance it at once took rank, in his judgment, among the finest of our native songsters. It is a judgment in which my one treasured experienee leads me to concur.